Attorney General Eric
Holder Testifies Before the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations
Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies

March 8, 2012

Chairwoman Mikulski, Ranking Member Hutchison, and distinguished members
of the Subcommittee: thank you for the opportunity to appear before you
today – and for your continued support of the Justice Department’s
critical work. I look forward to discussing the President's Fiscal Year
2013 Budget for the Department – and how these investments would be used
to build on our extraordinary record of success.

The President’s budget proposal demonstrates a clear commitment to
advancing the Department’s core missions and augmenting our ability to
fulfill our most important obligation: protecting the American people.
Despite the significant fiscal constraints the federal government has
faced in recent years, the 116,000 dedicated employees who serve in
Department offices around the world have made significant – and, in many
cases, historic – progress in safeguarding our citizens from terrorism,
violent crime, financial fraud, and a range of threats that often
disproportionately threaten the most vulnerable members of society.
We’ve also proven our commitment to acting as sound stewards of precious
taxpayer dollars.

As you can see in the most recent budget request, proposed spending
increases have been exceeded by proposed cuts. In fact, as a result of
numerous steps taken to streamline operations, almost $700 million worth
of savings have been developed and reinvested in critical mission areas.
And I believe that the Department is perhaps more efficient – and more
effective – than ever before.

Our recent achievements underscore this point – especially when you
consider our national security efforts. By continuing to work
collaboratively alongside U.S. and international partners, we have
identified and disrupted numerous alleged terrorist plots – including
one by two Iranian nationals to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to the
United States. We’ve thwarted multiple plots devised by homegrown
extremists. And we’ve secured convictions – and robust sentences –
against a number of dangerous terrorists.

In October, the Department obtained a guilty plea from Umar Farouk
Abdulmutallab for his role in the attempted bombing of an airplane on
Christmas Day in 2009. Just last month, Abdulmutallab was sentenced to
four life terms in prison. In November, we secured the conviction of
Viktor Bout, a notorious arms dealer who sold millions of dollars in
weapons for use in killing Americans. And in December, Waad Ramadan
Alwan pleaded guilty to 23 charges, including conspiracy to use a weapon
of mass destruction against U.S. nationals abroad; attempting to provide
material support to al Qaeda in Iraq; and conspiracy to transfer,
possess, and export explosive devices against U.S. troops in Iraq.

The list goes on and on. And, with the sustained and increased
investments included in the President’s Budget – for the Comprehensive
National Cybersecurity Initiative, the High Value Detainee Interrogation
Group, the Joint Terrorism Task Forces, the Render Safe Program and
other key national security efforts – the Department will be able to
strengthen our critical surveillance and intelligence-gathering
capabilities.

It will also allow us to bring our fight against financial fraud to a
new level. On Monday, as many of you know, President Obama issued a
proclamation to mark the beginning of this year’s Consumer Fraud
Protection Week. And I am proud to note that the Justice Department’s
Consumer Protection Branch has established a record of success in
defending the interests of American consumers that is worth celebrating
– and will be expanded upon.

In 2011 alone, our Consumer Protection Branch attained a 95 percent
conviction rate; recovered more than $900 million in criminal and civil
fines, restitution, and penalties; and obtained sentences totaling more
than 125 years of imprisonment against more than 30 individuals. This
represents remarkable – and unprecedented – progress. But it is only the
beginning.

In fact, since the start of this Administration, the Justice Department
has signaled an unwavering commitment to combating and preventing a wide
range of financial and health-care fraud crimes – and we’ve taken bold
steps to address the causes and consequences of the recent economic
crisis. Through the efforts of the President’s Financial Fraud
Enforcement Task Force – which was launched in 2009, and which I am
proud to chair – charges have been brought against numerous CEOs, CFOS,
corporate owners, board members, presidents, general counsels, and other
executives of Wall Street firms, hedge funds, and banks engaged in
fraudulent activities. In recent months, we’ve obtained prison sentences
of up to 60 years in a variety of fraud cases – including
multimillion-dollar Ponzi schemes and the largest hedge-fund
insider-trading case in U.S. history. Just this week, we secured a
conviction against the former Board of Directors Chairman for an
international bank for orchestrating a $7 billion investment fraud
scheme. And the Task Force has established two new Working Groups – the
Consumer Protection Working Group, which will enhance civil and criminal
enforcement of consumer fraud; and the Residential Mortgage-Backed
Securities Working Group, which will bring federal and state partners
together to investigate and prosecute abuses in our housing markets.
Both will help to amplify existing efforts, and to foster cooperation
and collaboration in the Department’s response to these problems.

Just a few weeks ago, a similar collaborative approach led the
Departments of Justice and Housing and Urban Development, other
agencies, and 49 state attorneys general to achieve a landmark $25
billion settlement with the nation’s top five mortgage servicers – the
largest joint federal-state settlement in our nation’s history. Although
this will not – on its own – cure all that ails our housing market, this
agreement builds on the record fair-lending settlement obtained by the
Civil Rights Division’s Fair Lending Unit last year – and will provide
substantial relief to homeowners. It also provides a blueprint for
future collaboration – across levels of government, state borders, and
party lines.

But there is perhaps no better illustration of our recent progress than
the Department’s groundbreaking work to combat health-care fraud. Over
the last fiscal year alone – in cooperation with the Department of
Health and Human Services and other partners, by utilizing authorities
provided under the False Claims Act and other essential statutes – we
were able to recover nearly $4.1 billion in funds that were stolen or
taken improperly from federal health-care programs – the highest amount
ever recovered in a single year.

Over the same period, we opened more than 1,100 new criminal health-care
fraud investigations, secured more than 700 convictions, and initiated
nearly 1,000 new civil health-care fraud investigations. And, for every
dollar we’ve spent combating health-care fraud, we’ve returned an
average of seven dollars to the U.S. Treasury, the Medicare Trust Fund,
and others.

These
numbers are stunning. But my colleagues and I recognize that we cannot
yet be satisfied – and that this is no time to become complacent. That’s
why, in addition to helping us build on this record of success, the
President’s budget request also would bolster our fight against drug
trafficking, international crime networks, gangs, and cyber criminals;
increase efforts to protect the law enforcement officers who keep us
safe; and expand upon the work being done by the Civil Rights Division
to guarantee that the rights of all Americans are protected – in border
areas, workplaces, housing markets, and voting booths.

I am committed to building on these, and our many other, achievements.
And I know you understand that, in this time of uncommon threats and
complex challenges, we simply cannot afford to “cut back” on the amount
and quality of justice that we are obliged to deliver. The Department
must remain vigilant in protecting this nation and enforcing the law –
and these efforts must be appropriately and adequately funded.

I look forward to continuing to work with the members of this
Subcommittee – and your colleagues throughout the Congress – to
accomplish this. And I would be happy to answer any questions you may
have.